The Arizona sentinel., 1887-11-19

SdllSlJ ulInSell dS lO WLtlnCI lIle ut- ficiency is caused by shortage in the
 weight or the count, by dividing the
 amount and weighing one moIety against the other. If they balance evenly, the count is correct and the difference is due to underweight. If the latter exceeds the average stated the coin will need to be specially ex- amined; there is probably something wrong. This question of light gold is an important one. One large London joint stock bank paid to the Bank of England e30.O0O (S15O. O1O for de- ficient weight in its gold for one year. A practical teller knows heavy or full weight gold by sigh:. The best test afforded by inspection is found in the strings of the Irish harp on the reverse of the coin. If they are trayed the coin is under weight, but if untouched by wear and tear It is full weight.
 The edge of the English bank count CT is provided with lip to prevent the coin from rolling over and to aid the teller in scooping up the money. The teller usually counts with the first two 6ngers of both hands, simultaneously; sometimes he uses six fingers, and a teller has been known to count 450 sovereigns in one minute working against time. An expert teller will count one hundred pounds value of silver in seven minutes. When it is remembered that the coins are always mixed and consist of siXpences, shill- ings, florins, half crowns and crowns with never a decimal convenience among them, this will reasonably be considered as a remarkable feat There is no selection of coins possible in such count Were that observed the count would take fully thirty minutes. The four fingers of the teller seize all the coins as they come, and if their action is bewilderingly quick what must be that of the eye and brain which can so promptly assess and add up those disjointed values so as to keep pace with the mechanical action of the hands? And all the time an outlook is kept for base coin, of which such an expert will sometimes throw out fully half dozen in counting a hundred pounds
 The annual loss from wear and tear of gold coin in England by reason of the absence of small notes in almost incredible. In Scotland the issue of q notes dispiaces gold to a great ex- tent, and it is almost as rare there as here. The Scotch teller excels in counting paper money. In handling gold and silver he is altogether behind the age, keeping those metals before him in little, old-maidish piles. which would make a London teller shriek with derision. But in lingering bum dle of notes he is king of men. Plac- ing the packets upright against his left palm, and seizing the top corner between the finger and thumb of his right hand, he will turn over the notes so quickly that an ordinary observer will be as entirely deceived as by the trick, and will probably count only sixteen or seventeen to the teller's twenty. Then. to check his count he will either alternate his hands, or. placing the notes horizon tally on his counter. he will count them toward himself with the same paralyz- ing speed.
 The Scotch counter is twice as wide as the London one; it is elev ated in the center and is minus the rim which facilities the English teller's dexterity with the coin. The Scotch teller in is railed in. His domain is a little island by itself. he is fat and and old, he takes no sort of responsibility except as to the he carries no balances in his head, and will not look at check un- til the ledger clerk. far off in the corner, has countersigned it. When you cross the broard, stately plaza of the inner hall and finally accost him in due form he will hardly let you away he is so impressed with you and has 50 many things to say, or rather so many polite inquiries to make. The correct conclusian at which to arrive when your knowledge is complete is that there is as great disparity be- tween the principles of English and Scottish banking as there is between he mechanical methods in which they carry on their business.
 
 5ained, gentlemanly and very much to he point. but he handles his notes as ! haberdasher handles a ribbon, con 7eying the impression that he is test ng or Illustrating the value of the ma erial of which they are made as he doles hem out. He looks, too, as if he were afraid of giving you too much, an un- desirable impression.
 One great advantage W hich the English teller possesses over both the merican and the Scotch teller lies n the fact that he issues clean notes only. The Bank of England has the exclusive privileges of note issue in London and within a radius of sixty miles, a right conferred for a certain valuable consideration granted 10 the in years gone by. All the notes received by the London tel Ter are sent into the Bank of England and they are not reissued. The aver age life of 95 bank note is two or three weeks, that of a e100 bank note three days-that is. the interval be-